Doctor patient dating laws

Sexual or romantic interactions between physicians and patients detract from the goals of the physician-patient relationship, may exploit the vulnerability of the patient, may obscure the physician's objective judgment concerning the patient's health care, and ultimately may be detrimental to the patient's well-being....Sexual or romantic relationships between a physician and a former patient may be unduly influenced by the previous physician-patient relationship.Having healthy relationships is a key factor in maintaining your health and wellbeing and this includes having good professional relationships with your patients.But be careful that you don’t cross those professional boundaries into more dangerous territory. uses cookies to improve performance by remembering your session ID when you navigate from page to page. Please set your browser to accept cookies to continue.Our contemporary attitude toward such encounters is to label them, categorically, as "unprofessional conduct." Given that there is no surveillance of this behavior, physician-patient sex comes to the attention of regulatory agencies only when the patient complains. The nominal standard establishes a rule of "no overlap": a physician-patient relationship must not coexist with a romantic-sexual relationship.The AMA says: "Sexual contact that occurs concurrent with the physician-patient relationship constitutes sexual misconduct.

The existences of other considerations, including financial or contractual concerns are and must be secondary to the fundamental relationship. Any act or failure to act by a physician that violates the trust upon which the relationship is based jeopardizes the relationship and may place the physician at risk of being found in violation of the Medical Practice Act (ORS Chapter 677). The policies expressed herein apply to all physicians in Oregon, as well as those who make decisions, which affect Oregon consumers, including health plan medical directors and other physicians employed by or contracting with such plans.The court held that “in the absence of an express agreement by the physician to treat a patient, a physician’s assent to a physician-patient relationship can be inferred when the physician takes an affirmative action with regard to the care of the patient” [4].A patient-physician relationship was formed because the physician took an affirmative action in rendering an opinion on the course of the patient’s care.The subject of physician-patient boundaries illustrates how well-intentioned policy can be written in a way that is simply too shallow to serve the goals of ethics.If you've sat on a credentials committee, disciplinary panel, or medical-licensing board, you surely reviewed cases of physician-patient sexual involvement.